Heart without mercy

Movie
Original title	Heart without mercy
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1958
length	95 minutes
Age rating	FSK 18
Rod
Director	Viktor Tourjansky
script	Hans Jacoby
production	Gyula Trebitsch , Walter Koppel
music	Herbert Windt
camera	Günther Anders
cut	Alice Ludwig-Rasch
occupation
	Barbara Rütting : Anja Wegener; Hansjörg Felmy : Ulrich Rombach; Werner Hinz : Friedrich Rombach; Hans Nielsen : Dr. Libra man; Margarete Haagen : Mimi Busse; Corny Collins : Hilde Wegener; Günter Pfitzmann : Dr. Knoll; Josef Dahmen : Magistrate Dorn; Lotte Brackebusch : Mrs. Wegener; Kai Fischer : Christa; Henry Vahl : Gardener Volmer; Elly Burgmer; Wilhelm Walter; Manfred art;

Herz ohne Gnade is a German melodrama from 1958 by Viktor Tourjansky with Barbara Rütting , Hansjörg Felmy and Werner Hinz in the leading roles. The story is based on a newspaper novel by the long-time Hörzu editor-in-chief Eduard Rhein .

action

In the Federal Republic of Germany during the economic miracle , at the end of the 1950s. At the center of the story is the Rombach family, consisting of the domineering industrialist Friedrich Rombach and his hated stepson Ulrich. Their disproportion is based on a general conflict of generations and authority: the tough company patriarch demands unconditional subordination from the future company heir, which the young hot spur is unwilling to provide. One day the young, fatherless Anja Wegener returns to this tense climate to take up a job as the private secretary of old Rombach in Friedrich's Hanseatic bourgeois mansion. Her mother and sister Hilde, who both live from hand to mouth, can accommodate her in the garden shed with Rombach's permission. Friedrich Rombach is a reserved, tough man, almost aloof and sometimes with a bitterly cold presence. Anja's presence gradually thaws him a little, and after a while he decides to propose marriage to his employees. Not least because of the calculation to ensure a secure existence for herself and her relatives, Anja accepts the application.

Friedrich's stepson Ulrich also shows an ostentatious interest in Anja. He ensnares her, and the young woman responds to his youthful, carefree, cheeky, stormy wooing. While the much older Friedrich Anja has stability and security to offer, it is Ulrich's bold and fresh carefreeness that magically attracts her. And so one day she gets into the sports car for a jaunt with his friends. The excursion is great fun for everyone. On the way back, Ulrich and one of his buddies organize a race out of high spirits. It happens as it should: The friend loses control of his vehicle and has a fatal accident. Anja and Ulrich are only injured. Shocked, the two spend the night in a double room in an inn.

When old Rombach finds out about it, he begins to race with jealousy. The hatred of the unloved junior becomes so great that he hatches a plan with serious consequences. When the two young people arrive, they find Friedrich Rombach dead. Obviously he was murdered, and it looks like Ulrich has a hand in it. In any case, criminal inspector Dorn starts the investigation against Ulrich Rombach on suspicion of patricide. At first, this doesn't seem to bother Ulrich too much, at least he's celebrating his birthday in his house. Several inconsistencies emerged in the course of the investigation. Finally the truth comes to light: old Rombach only killed himself to blame the hated Filius for this bloody act as murder. Now that Ulrich is no longer suspected, he and Anja can plan a future together.

Production notes

Heart without Mercy was created in Hamburg at the beginning of 1958 and was premiered on April 24, 1958 in Hamburg's Barke-Kino.

Walter Koppel was in charge of overall management, Gyula Trebitsch was in charge of production. Herbert Kirchhoff and Albrecht Becker created the film structures, Erna Sander designed the costumes. Werner Schlagge and Werner Pohl were responsible for the sound. Herbert Grieser was a make-up artist. Wolfgang Treu , who made his feature film debut here, worked as a camera assistant.

Reviews

The film service says: “A psychodrama crammed full of pompous feelings of talm and magazines. Staged based on a novel published in the Hör zu, which serves the story against the background of the economic miracle of those years with a lot of fatigue. "

On wunschliste.de it is written: "Psychological crime thriller, well thought out and excellently played."

Individual evidence

Web links

Heart without mercy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Heart without mercy at filmportal.de

[1] Heart without mercy. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 24, 2019 .

[2] Brief review